BlockBlue Springs, Missouri
23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1894 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Sni-A-Bar Township. It lies in ZIP code area 64015. The Survey maps it on the Blue Springs quadrangle. 58,603 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 974 feet above sea level.
On record in Blue Springs
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 1 record
Population over time
2 figuresBlue Springs grew from 52,575 to 58,603 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 52,575 | |
| 2020 | 58,603 | +6,028 (+11%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 23 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1894 USGS Independence quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1933 USGS Blue Springs quadrangle1:24000
- 1945 USGS Blue Springs quadrangle1:24000
- 1947 USGS Blue Springs quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Kansas City quadrangle1:250000
- 1954 USGS Kansas City quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Kansas City quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Kansas City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1965 USGS Blue Springs quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1983 USGS Kansas City quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS Blue Springs quadrangle1:24000
In the county-history sources
6,834 words on this townshipThe History of Jackson County, Missouri, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., Biographical Sketches of Its Citizens, Jackson County in the Late War... History of Missouri, Map of Jackson County .., published 1881 names this settlement in its chapter on Sni-A-Bar Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
Sni-a-bar or ' ' Shnee-a-bar " township, as it occurs in some old records, was first organized May 5, 1834, but has undergone many changes since that date. Sni-a-bar township is bounded north by Fort Osage, east by Lafayette county, south by Van Buren and Prairie, and west by Prairie and Blue townships. It is the central eastern township, and enjoys as great a variety of surface and soil as any in Jackson county. The population is between 4,350 and 5,000, and the agricultural resources are very superior especially in the western portion. The township contains 600 farms under cultivation, averaging 100 acres each, and these farms are valued at from $20 to $35 per acre, depending on location and improvements. The Chicago & Alton Railroad runs through the township in an easterly and westerly direction, and upon this line Blue Springs, Grain Valley and Oak Grove, three little villages within its borders are located. Pink Hill, another little post village, is situated about four miles north of the Chicago & Alton Railroad.
Passage source: The History of Jackson County, Missouri, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., Biographical Sketches of Its Citizens, Jackson County in the Late War... History of Missouri, Map of Jackson County .., published 1881.
Frankhn Smith settled near the village of Blue Springs about the year 1838. He established the first post-office at this point, and named it Blue Springs, from which the village afterward derived its name. He came from Virginia. He represented the county in the General Assembly of the State, and held the office of Justice of the Peace for many years, for which he was considered particularly well qualified.
Passage source: The History of Jackson County, Missouri, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., Biographical Sketches of Its Citizens, Jackson County in the Late War... History of Missouri, Map of Jackson County .., published 1881.
The first settler at Blue Springs was Dr. Smith. The property is now occupied by Major J. M. Burris. Dr. Smith sold out and left, probably, for the Piatt Purchase. He was succeeded at this settlement by Jeremiah Wood, who lived there about five years. While Mr. Wood lived here Jacob Gregg, the County Surveyor, run off a tract of land forty acres in extent on the east side of Wood's farm, in the open prairie. The owner of the land offered it to Wood for $75, and he refused to give it for the reason that "it was unfit for anything except to let cows graze on, and his cows would get as much of the grass as any one's." Now, this tract of forty acres, with the improvements, could be sold for at least $450 per acre. Mr. Wood died about the year 1855, and was buried in the cemetery at Blue Springs. He was a manufacturer of tobacco, and made many a sharp bargain.
Passage source: The History of Jackson County, Missouri, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., Biographical Sketches of Its Citizens, Jackson County in the Late War... History of Missouri, Map of Jackson County .., published 1881.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Sni-A-Bar Township - it names this place 20 more 20 times.
Fires near this place
2 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Blue Springs between 1992 and 2011, burning about 3 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 April 1992 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 15 November 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.2 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 13 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Blue Springs: 12 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown-S&G | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Pink Hill Mine & Mill | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Unknown-Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown-Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown-Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown-Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown-Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown-Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown-Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown-Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
7 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Blue Springs in 7 storm reports between 1994 and 1996: 4 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blue Springs | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blue Springs | $2,000 | Severe Thunderstorms moved through downtown Kansas City with damaging winds and torrential rains. 60 mph winds were reported at the Federal building, and the roof was blown off of the Lincoln Academy Prep School at 22nd and Woodland. Heavy rains causing flash flooding, with Southwest Trafficway closed near 25th street, in addition to other flooding of city streets. The storms continued east to Blue Springs, where numerous small tree limbs were broken off. Lightning struck a house in the south part of Kansas City, igniting the wood shingles. The home and its contents were nearly a total loss due to the ensuing fire. |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blue Springs | $2,000 | National Weather Service personnel reported downed trees and power outages in the Blue Springs area. |
| June 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blue Springs | - | Large tree limbs were knocked down near Independence Center shopping mall. |
| April 1995 | Hail | Blue Springs | - | no account filed |
| April 1995 | Hail | Blue Springs | - | no account filed |
| April 1995 | Hail | Blue Springs | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Tapawingo | 1.6 miles | 23 | |
| Selsa | 4.0 miles | 23 | |
| Grain Valley | 4.4 miles | 21 | |
| Pink Hill | 5.0 miles | 21 | |
| Adams | 6.0 miles | 23 | |
| Hiler | 6.0 miles | 21 | |
| Tarsney Lakes | 6.2 miles | 18 | |
| Tarsney | 6.3 miles | 18 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Blue Springs | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q379010 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 714434. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.